


You’ll Have Bible Camp Each Summer (To Keep You Pure And Clean)

by melodicchaos



Series: Unruly Hearts Week [1]
Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: Alyssa + religion, F/F, THAT GOOD GAY SHIT, TW: churches and religion, kat rambles about Alyssa’s relationship with religion for too long, theres a bit of internalized homophobia from my girl I’m sorry, tw: internalized homophobia, wedding!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 02:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17840594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodicchaos/pseuds/melodicchaos
Summary: An exploration into Alyssa Greene’s relationship with religion, but also with how her sexuality was influenced by religion, based on four separate occasions in her life.





	You’ll Have Bible Camp Each Summer (To Keep You Pure And Clean)

**Author's Note:**

> Happy day one of Unruly Hearts week! Alyssa is my favorite character, which is why this was written!

Alyssa Greene had always believed in God. She trusted Him, with everything she went through. She knew He was a forgiving God, accepting as well, no matter what the people of Edgewater argued. 

Every part of her life had religion. And every part had an aspect of her sexuality, whether she knew it or not. 

Age ten, the First Communion. One of Mrs. Greene’s proudest moments in her daughter — even though Alyssa didn’t really have to do much. Pictures of Alyssa’s First Communion adorn the halls of the Greene household, reminding Alyssa of one more thing. Her first “girl” crush. 

Her name was Grace Chastity. Everyone called her Grace, though. Perfect honey blonde hair, blue eyes like an ocean, a smile that was nearly perfect besides the gap between her two front teeth. Alyssa was in love, she just didn’t realize it. She just wanted to spend all her time with her. 

Grace was homeschooled, and Alyssa went to George Washington Elementary. Sure, Alyssa had her other friends, Kaylee and Shelby and everyone else, but Grace was...something different. She sat next to her at every CCD class, moving a bit closer to her every few minutes. 

And then Grace stopped coming. And all the letters Alyssa sent were sent straight back to her. So, eventually, Alyssa gave up and moved on.

 

Every year, there was bible camp. Every summer, Alyssa was dropped off at this camp in the middle of nowhere with the rest of her church, and they spent weeks praying and bonding. It was like Girl Scout camp, but a million times worse. 

This camp shoved the idea of gays going to hell down Alyssa’s throat, which wasn’t the best feeling for a young girl learning about her own sexuality, and when there was a very cute camp counselor. Her name was Mary, with big brown eyes and bright red hair and freckles across her face. However, she was very straight, with a boyfriend that she was very much in love with. So Alyssa pushed her homosexuality down deeper, forcing away her love and feelings for girls as best as possible. It’ll work eventually, right? 

 

Age sixteen, Confirmation. It felt all too much like her first communion to be good, in Alyssa’s opinion. The impeccable white dress, her hair in perfect curls, the proud smile on her mother’s face. Guilt ate at Alyssa’s stomach the entire time, knowing that if she didn’t do this she would be hated by her mother, and the church, for the of her life. This whole thing was to promise herself to God forever, and it made sure that she could get married in a church. Well...she wasn’t going to be getting married in any church around here, that was for sure. 

Emma. Emma. Emma. That was all that played through Alyssa’s head as she robotically went through the process, her bracelet pulsing with comforting energy. 

“I’m so proud of you, my super star,” her mother gushed at the end of the ceremony, engulfing Alyssa in a tight hug. “Now you can marry a nice man who has promised himself to God and you can get married in a beautiful church.”

Alyssa gave a weak nod, giving her mom the same fake yet realistic smile she had been giving her for the last five years. “I will, Mom. I think I’m going to go home and rest a bit before the party, I’m not feeling great.”

“Alright, honey, but remember the party is at three and I want you downstairs in that pretty dress I got you by two thirty.”

“I know, Mom. I will be, I promise.” 

 

Age twenty-eight. Her wedding. No, Alyssa Greene did not cave and force herself to marry a man she didn’t love. On the contrary, she came out to her mother...to everyone, in her senior year, and told all of them how much she loved Emma Nolan. 

And that still remains true today. As Alyssa stared down at the glittering ring on her left hand in a trance, a sharp knock came on the door. 

“Come in!” she called, pulling the robe tighter over her dress. 

Angie poked her head in the doorway, smiling. “You look beautiful, Alyssa. Emma is acting like a chicken with its head cut off in the other room, so we better get this show on the road.” 

“And my mother..?” Alyssa questioned, pulling off the robe. 

Angie’s face fell, and Alyssa immediately knew. Even by having the wedding at a church, the one place Alyssa knew would make her mother the happiest, despite making both Alyssa and Emma quite uncomfortable (the church was accepting of everyone. That was the nice thing about New York churches. So many people came into the city and many were seeking refuge from something so often churches were accepting of almost everyone, but that wasn’t the point) to have the wedding in the church. 

“Oh. Okay. Well...it doesn’t matter,” Alyssa shrugged, putting on a smile. “She’s in the past and if she doesn’t want to be here, it’s okay. I have you guys.”

Angie wrapped Alyssa up in a hug, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I’ll go get Marion.” 

A few minutes later, Mr. Hawkins appeared in Alyssa’s doorway, with tears in his eyes. “Oh..Alyssa..” he whispered, placing a hand on his chest. “I’m so proud of how far you’ve come.” 

“Mr. Hawkins, you’re going to make me cry,” Alyssa laughed, wrapping an arm around his forearm. “Let's do this.” 

The wedding was short and sweet, small. Some of their friends from high school were there, Kaylee and Shelby were some of Alyssa’s bridesmaids, as were a few of their new friends from New York. 

At the reception, Alyssa made her way over to Emma and the rest of the Broadway group. “Hi guys,” Alyssa smiled, intertwining her fingers. “Em, I’m so—“

“Don’t be sorry. This church wedding wasn’t as bad as I remember churches being...but I’m not fully on board with religion,” Emma smiled, kissing Alyssa’s cheek. 

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I’ll cook for a month. And do dishes,” Alyssa promised. 

“Alyssa?” a voice asked from behind the group. Alyssa whipped around only to find her mother standing there. “I’m so sorry—I wasn’t trying to miss your wedding.”

“Mom..” Alyssa breathed, breaking away from Emma. “You came.”

“My flight got delayed because of rain back home. But...I made it, Alyssa. And you look absolutely beautiful. You both do,” Ms. Greene pulled out her phone to take a picture of the two girls, before hugging Alyssa. “I’m sorry I missed the ceremony.”

“It’s okay, Mom, I promise,” Alyssa nodded, moving a curl from her face. “You’re here and that’s what matters.”

“You’re so grown up...you’re not my little girl anymore. I love you, Alyssa.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Alyssa smiled, as Ms. Greene pressed something into her hand. Inside her palm was a small necklace with a cross on it, the same necklace she had received for her confirmation. “Thank you..”

“Of course. You forgot it when you left home and I could tell you felt upset about that..so here we go.”

“Will you stay, Mom? At least for a bit?”

Ms. Greene smiled, looking around the group. “I would love to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos aren’t necessary, but always appreciated! Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
